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Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 18 yrs old

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Rating:

93% of 100

12 Reviews

Style

Strong Dark Ale

Country

Britain

Brewery

Harviestoun

ABV

8.0%

Bottle Size

330ml

Serving Temp

6 to 8 °C

Details
Brewery Info
Reviews

Details

With notes of chocolate, dark fruits and of course a generous hit of whisky, Ola Dubh 18 is the result of a collaboration between Harviestoun Brewery and Highland Park Distillery. Harviestoun's award winning Old Engine Oil is aged for up to half a year in barrels which once held Highland Park 18 Year single malt whisky, which was named Best Spirit in the World not once but twice! Perfect for a special occasion.

Brewery Info

Harviestoun are about as Scottish as you can get - based in Clackmannanshire, they’ve been brewing small batch craft beer for over 30 years. They’re extremely innovative, and successful - rather impressively for a UK brewer, they’ve been a well-respected player on the US craft scene since 1999.

One of their most famous brews - Old Engine Oil Ola Dubh - is aged in whisky barrels and they’ve also created a special edition beer - Bitter & Twisted Zymatore - aged in gin and Pinot Noir barrels. For delicious session ales and lovely Scottish heritage, you can’t go wrong with Harviestoun.

Reviews

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Sweet and Rich

80%

Review by michael 25/02/2018

Sweetness of the old engine oil topped off with the rich smokey & fruitness of the highland park Whiskey. Nice rich flavour

Real treat

100%

Review by Lucas 16/02/2018

I compared it with the base Old Engine Oil and the barrel gave it so much more depth. Smoky, chocatelty and coffee notes.

When the half & half becomes one!

80%

Review by Edward 02/02/2018

This packs a pretty smoky punch considering it's the elder statesman of the Ola Dubh series! However, this power is slightly one-dimensional, and overall I prefer the more balanced, if a bit tamer, 16 year old for regular 'dramming' :)

Great Scottish beer

100%

Review by Rob 24/01/2018

Barrel aged to perfection - I loved it. Must try for a whisky beer

Whisky

80%

Review by Rich Mahogany 11/01/2018

Nice Whisky hit up front, followed by a taste of berries and coffee. Will have to try the other ages.

Whisky!

80%

Review by RichMahogany 22/12/2017

Very nice combination and the whisky taste was excellent.

Nice, strong and unique

100%

Review by Danielle 06/12/2017

Tbis has a very unique taste that is string and refreshing. We hope they do a 21 yer old version soon

Most excellent

100%

Review by Ninja Terrier 31/07/2017

Having previously had the 12 and 16 year olds I was expecting something special with this one. It delivered all I was expecting and more. Now to wait and see if a 21 year old comes along?

Great Whisky + Great Beer = Excellence

100%

Review by Danny Boy 02/05/2017

Just love that Ola Dubh, any version seemingly. I'd say I probably got more of the barrel aging notes in this compared to the 12 year, but difficult to decide which I liked better. Just truly world class.

Strong and Smokey

100%

Review by Bev 12/03/2017

Another great beer from this brewery. Tried the younger versions before and this blows them away.

Perfect

100%

Review by AdyG 13/12/2016

I've had the 12 year old and the 16 year old but this tops them. Smoother and more refined but watch out for that ABV...

Fantastic

100%

Review by DrinkingEnthusiast 24/06/2016

The peat is heavy but has an added nuttiness and a strong lingering smoky finish, the whisky notes have been smoothed out compared to the 16, i'd say this was less drinkable than the 12, not in a bad way but the flavour is just so much stronger that one would definitely be enough